Gears of War: Stranded
by ioutpost
Summary: Chaps and other stranded. Leads up to Gears of War 2 when Marcus and Dom find stranded hiding under Mount Kadar PLEASE READ and REVIEW
1. Chapter 1

Stranded Darkness

0100 Hours, Jacinto Outskirts

Near Tollen's ruins

Chaps and Franklin were on guard duty while the rest of the people slept. Franklin had a hard grip on his Lancer at the thought of his outpost being overrun. He thought of how "safe" they were there. The locust never really tried to take it. A few shells here and there. The locust almost pitied them actually. The nearby Locust commanders never really thought it was necessary to take the outpost and lose some good Locust. But that was over six months ago and Franklin knew what happened, had happened and there was nothing he could do about it now. He sat uneasily on the side of the road with chaps right next to him.

"Hey Chaps, I been thinking,"

"Oh yeah? And what's that son? Seems like you never think."

"I been thinking, after all this shit ends, if it ever does, we gon' start up a new gas station. Just the two of us. After this ends we wont know who to trust. Like that fool Marcus Fenix, he went to save his dad and old man Fenix got greased. He punched that one colonel and ended up in jail with them goddamn slang blade mothafuckas,"

" yeah your right son, we wont. I know one things for sure, I trust everybody sleepin' behind us. And that asshole Fenix, he blew up my damn station. If it weren't for the increased COG presence back in that area, id still be using that station."

Chaps was about 55 now, and his eyesight was down a little bit, but not enough to worry. Yet. He scanned the streets beyond, noticing only ruins, ruins, and more rubble. He knew there was no Locust around. They were focusing on Jacinto. Chaps and Franklin knew that they should be moving to avoid chances of being seen, that truth was that everybody was just two damn tired to move.

"I think… I thank we should stay here durin' the day tomorrow," Franklin added.

"Come on son, you cant be serious. I cant wait another day out here and neither can they. Its goddamn ludicrous. Another day we wait, another chance of us running into a goon patrol. I mean fuck kid, we gotta get to the Kadar's soon. Or there aint gonna be much of us here left to defend. And I swear kid, im startin to break down.

"Come on Chaps, don't even start that shit now, I need you man."

"Just get some rest son, I cant sleep anyways. One way or another, were movin out tomorrow at dawn, and we aint stopping for shit."

Chaps thought back to the good old days. 15 years back, he was young, only 40 and business was good. It wasn't good, but it was business and any money made had helped. He thought back on a shiny bright day, centaurs were the new military thing and three of them pulled up to his gas station. His hair was brown, he wasn't balding, he wore his silver star with pride at the sight of the COG uniforms.

Chaps brought himself back to reality, and thought about the next days objectives. His Gnasher was running low on ammunition. He had two clips left and four shots in the remaining magazine. He let his mind drift back to the years of the gas station. His adrenaline was pumping making it impossible to sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he slept. Must have been five or six days ago. He needed rest and he knew it. Before he knew it, the time was 0600 hours and soon daylight. He awoke Franklin and he stood up and stretched his eyes droopy as hell. They started waking the others and getting them ready to move out. There were only two girls in the group and eleven guys. Only have of them were armed anyways. After the last firefight, the Locust took out half of the group killing Franklin's bodyguards. They started out down the road. They were all spaced out at about ten yards except for Chaps and Franklin at the front. As far as they could see, just open country.

"when we get there, no more tough guy ok? Guts will get you so far and then they'll get you killed. Luck doesn't last forever."

"Ive told you many time after time Chaps, they cant hit me man. They cant hit me. Whatchu got, wax in your ears?" Those words would stick in Chap's mind for the rest of his life. Little did he know he would repeat the same phrase to the famous Marcus Fenix. The open country had hardly been touched from the hammer of dawn disaster. As they were walking down the road, something zipped by the pair and immediately jumped behind an old car. The bullet struck an older man right in the chest. He fell and started crawling with all his power he had left. Everybody had taken cover behind some kind of rubble, a few behind a building. The crawling man was struck again in the side of his head and immediately stopped moving. Why had the Locust focused on this one man? Chaps had no time to wonder as he returned fire with his pistol.

"Dammit, I cant get a window, were pinned. If we cant move son, were dead."

"we got Haren and Baskins flankin' round the side. All brass and balls man, they aint stoppin for shit," he added in with a little chuckle.

"we gotta be more careful next time son, you got better eyes then me asshole, next time keep your damn eyes up the road."

Immediately some of the veteran men started flanking around the right side of the buildings unopposed. They got a clear sight for firing and took out three locust right away. The firing immediately stopped and Haren and Baskins wandered why there was only a three man locust patrol. It made no sense. No crazy shit either, just three grunts. Haren guessed the Boomers were directly fighting the COGS. All of the sudden Baskins flew back and blood splat everywhere. His jaw was in his throat, and eyes wide open. That split second, Haren paused and that's all it took. A shot rang right through his neck and out the other end. He fell back right next to the body of Baskins. All firing stopped and the rest of the stranded thought it was safe to get up.

"clear up," shouted Franklin, "clear up, Haren, talk man, what the fucks goin' on?" he knew something was wrong and stood up. He started walking up the road intending on finding Baskins and Haren. All of the sudden Franklin flew back into Chap's arms. Chaps fell behind the car again with Franklin in his arms. Blood coming from his mouth. "Chaps, I, I'm sorry man," At that moment his eyes shut and he lost all remaining power. Chaps didn't know how to react. Another stranded running back was cut down and shot in the very back of his neck. There was only nine people left.

"Medson, where is that chicken fucker? Anybody know where he's at?"

Medson replied, " Third floor, fourth window on the left. Chaps, I need a diversion and I'll take his fuckin head off." Without hesitation, a man to his left jumped up and started running towards Chaps. Medson hadn't been ready yet and then aimed from his cover at the window. Almost simultaneously, the Locust shot the man running for Chaps. The bullet cut through his chest and dropped him. Medson had shot the Locust right in the head and blood splattered behind him.

" All clear Chaps, we got him," He left cover and went over to Chaps. Chaps had been looking over Franklin's lifeless body. He didn't know how to feel.

"One thing or another, we gotta get the fuck outta here," Chaps explained. The rest of the stranded went over and grabbed any ammo they could. Chaps started leaning them toward the woods and decided it was best to move off the road rather than on it.

" Chaps, where are we goin?"

" The Kadar Mountains, what, you got wax in your ears? Where the fuck have you been. Wake up asshole."

" I now that you old fuck, I mean why the fuck are you leading us off the road?"

Chaps stopped and looked him dead in the eye, "Because son, chances are, we'd run into another damn Locust patrol and they could possible have a boomer. This is what we'll do. Hey! Everybody, stop here and listen to me. Were going to work our way up a few miles and then set up an ambush, there is only 8 of us left and 7 guns. So, if there is a boomer on the next patrol, we will let them pass, if not, we will cut every last one of the blood sucking coward fucks down. No time for questions. Lets move."

Chaps led them through dark woods, towards the same direction as the road was moving, occasionally looking at the road making sure they were on the right track. He thought back and remembered the wax in the ears remark he had made to Medson. Thinking back, it made him smile and almost laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Chaps was thinking about Franklin. His smile quickly vanished as he remembered Franklin's insides spraying the outside. His blood ran cold. He wandered how only four Locusts could make Swiss cheese of his men so easy. Even in the middle of the day, the woods had been so dark. Medson broke formation and jogged up to Chaps who was thinking why Franklin stepped out of cover after not hearing "Clear down." Medson immediately asked Chaps, "hey old man, I heard of Stranded groups in Tollen were making there way to the Kadar Mountains. You know, we should have never split up from that other group. They had water, guns,"

"I know it son, but there's nothin we can do about it now, Franklin made that decision and he had the most experience with those aliens. We continue with the plan, meet up with them, combine our guns and work our way from there." Chaps liked Medson, he was six feet, pretty stocky. He had good strength, great aim, and knew how to stay alive. Medson had short hair, hadn't shaved in a few days, but the beard had suited him. Medson had lost everything on Emergence Day. His family, his everything. He had come to terms with the ordeal and was able to cope nowadays with the thought of being with his family after death. He had guts, but he wasn't stupid. He knew how to stay alive and in the end, and that is what matters.

"Sounds good. You know, when Franklin's outpost was overrun a few months back, I thought we were all done for. Those pigs could have stuck around for a few days," Medson had gotten himself worked up now and Chaps could tell. "I know it. They're too damn shaky. They worry about themselves only. Goddamn communists."

Medson laughed at that last one, "There was nowhere safe for miles. The next stranded outpost was over 10 fuckin miles away. I just don't get it, they never attacked us before, and they almost acted as if we never existed." "I know it son, that's what they do though, they know were there. They know we aint COGs. But that's what they do. Never know what the hell they are thinking," Medson saw movement on the road about a quarter mile up the road. The Locust were moving slowly, but still moving. He stopped and immediately flung his hand up halting everybody.

"Stop, everybody get down a bit. Chaps, Locust up the road a bit." Chap's heart started to beat faster, "ok, ok. Everybody, follow me to the edge of the woods. Looks like the road dips down a bit so they'll be stuck in there with no cover. If we see a boomer, we let them pass. If not, we let them have it." Chaps led them to the edge of the brush and woods. It was perfect for an ambush. The Locust weren't too far away but they didn't suspect anything bad to be happening.

"No boomers Chaps. Looks like there is only four of them, again. What the fuck is goin on here? It almost seems like there is less Locust. Maybe the lightmass bomb hit em a bit harder than everybody thought."

"Okay good, each one is armed. Maybe we can grab some ammo. I see one Longshot, a gnasher and two Hammer bursts. We hit em hard and fast. I want nobody dead. Medson, you take out the sniper. You need to hit him in the fuckin head ok? Me and Crawford will take out the first guy. Anybody else with a gun, shoot the two inside." Medson moved away from everybody else and counted his bullets he had left for his Longshot. He counted 12. Tense moments passed. They were walking faster it seemed

as they got closer to everybody. There was no way the Locust could see them. They had no idea that they were walking into the lions den. Medson knew that he was the first shot. He knew he wouldn't miss. Chaps didn't have to tell him when to shoot. They were about a hundred meters and were closing in. Chap's heart was beating out of his chest. He knew he didn't have to tell Medson when to shoot. And he knew that Medson would not miss. He didn't want to think about if Medson did miss. Step by step, the Locust got closer and closer. They were fifty yards when the lead Locust stopped his squad. He thought he saw something but it was clear he wasn't looking at the Stranded taking cover. He continued his squad regardless. Chaps hands were sweating and his grip on his gun was not good. The Locusts were about 20 yards away and the road started tilting down. Crack! The last Locust in the column lost half his head and flung back onto the ground.

Chaps shouted, "Open up!" Chaps and everybody else immediately starting shooting bullets into the other Locusts. The front man was riddled with bullet after bullet. He fell right away. The second was riddled with a few bullets and fell as well. The last started dead sprinting towards the edge of the woods. Medson reloaded and shot him in the hip. It fell over and was crawling and made it to the edge of the woods. Chaps and Crawford jumped off the brush and into the road and started running after it. They passed by the two corpses and the second Locusts was breathing hard and had only a few moments to live. Without hesitation, Crawford lifted his boot, and smashed the Locust in the face. He did it a second time and it was dead for sure. Blood and bone crushing into Crawford's boot. The next step he took on the road crunched under his foot and he loved that sound. It was almost sickening. He had left a bloody footprint. Chaps was up ahead and Crawford sprinted to keep up. They saw where the Locust had entered the forest but there was no sign of him. Crawford went in first. Chaps wondered about Crawford and realized that he was obviously looking for revenge. There was a small blood trail that mysteriously vanished. All of the sudden, the wounded Locust jumped from behind the tree and tackled Crawford into Chaps. He punched Crawford in the chest and stomach. Chaps lost grip of his Gnasher when he fell down. He grabbed the nearest rock and smashed it into the Grubs face. It stunned him a bit but didn't hurt him. Chaps smashed him again in the face and Crawford threw a hard punch that did more damage than the rock had done. The Grub started choking Crawford. With his other hand he punched Chaps. Crawford was trying to get out of the strong Grubs arms but couldn't. Without help, he would die. Chaps ran toward the Grub, and when the Grub raised his fist to punch Chaps, Chaps dug his fingers in the bullet hole inside the Grub's hip. It screamed and hissed in pain and knelt over. Crawford got on top of the Grub in ferocious rage and grabbed the blood stained rock and started smashing the Grubs face over and over again. Chaps got up and looked around. He grabbed Crawford's Lancer off the ground and revved it. All of the sudden, Chaps thrusted it into the stomach of the Grub and Crawford moved out of the way immediately. The Locust then stopped moving and Chaps ripped apart the lifeless Grub. He stopped after a few seconds with blood spurting everywhere. Bones and guts were pouring out of the dead Grub. The rock in Crawford's hand had actually been indented back.

"Christ man, your nuts you know that. I almost fuckin killed you with this thing. Your own damned gun." Chaps started laughing. It was that creepy old man laugh that anybody can really imagine.

"Chaps, thank you man. You saved my ass. I thought I was done when he was choking me," Crawford started coughing at the thought somehow, "if you hadn't dug your fingers in his side, he woulda choked my ass to death."

Medson ran up with a woman behind him. Alice was her name. Medson looked at the horror around them all.

"Christ man, what the fuck happened here. Everyone okay? Chaps you hit man? You okay?" He started walking towards Chaps, "Nah, im fine Medson, it aint my blood." Medson stopped dead in his tracks, "Let's take five, grab the ammo, search the bodies and get the fuck outta here."

"Fine by me son," Chaps said. He was relieved, his heart still pounding. He felt no remorse whatsoever for the dead Grub. Everything he had just done, it had been for Franklin. For every human killed. For Baskins and Haren. For every little child and old person that had been ruthlessly gunned down by the Locust Juggernaut. Chaps thought to himself, you aint so tough now you ugly fuckin freak.

"Crawford, you grippin that rock like it's a fuckin artifact or something man," Medson explained as he started to laugh a bit.

"Im keeping this thing forever man, it fits perfectly in my extra bag. I smashed his fuckin face in and Chaps cut his body into two," Crawford said with a sickening voice.

Crawford got up and helped Chaps up. They started back towards the road. The four others left were already searching the Locust.

"Grab those two hammerbursts, but let Medson have that Longshot ammo, he don't fuckin miss."

A tall skinny man named Joseph Smith grabbed the hammerburst and the only extra magazine he could find on the dead Grub.

"Finally man, I been without gun for over a week." Chaps padded his shoulder and mumbled in his ear, "Good, now somebody who aint a lousy shot can get my back again," and they both laughed.

Smith put the extra mag in his pocket and was ready to move at Chap's words.

"Ok, Medson how man bullets you got son?" "33 Chaps, im good to go."

"Ok good, we are all armed now except for Jody." Crawford had a backup pistol with one extra mag and he pulled it out and handed it to Judy. Everybody could tell she never handled a gun before in her life.

Chaps nodded and knew that they are as ready as they could be.

"Ok, lets move it out, we got lots of sunlight and we got about four or five miles to Kadar. Were gonna move inside the woods again in case we see another patrol. Chances are there won't be because we've already taken out two on this road."

Everybody was as ready as they could be and Chaps led them to the other side of the road. Right when he was crossing Medson grabbed his elbow, "dont worry old man, ill help you to the other side," he said as he laughed and Chaps smacked him on the arm with the back of his hand, "you're a real smartass you know."

Chaps was the unofficial leader and everybody knew it. He had the brains and he had been in the military before, so he also knew strategy. Nobody here had questioned him and they weren't about to. Chaps once again thought of his days at the gas station, and thought about how good life had been back then. Even though the economy was bad, his business was great because the COGs always bought gas from him. Now there was no such thing as an economy and there probably would never be another one in his lifetime.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Chaps didn't let anybody know it, but he hated walking through these woods. He overcame his fears and realized it was mostly on him to keep everybody alive. Besides, everybody was armed anyways. Chaps thought of a distant battle in which he lost his Boltok Pistol. Man was he accurate with that gun. Medson walked up with Crawford on his six, "Chaps, we're meetin Jordan's group five miles outside Mount Kadar right? So that's up ahead about a mile. What's the password?"

"Password's Thunder. If we see em first, we call out Flash. Keep in mind son, if you hear Flash, you call out Thunder very loud. My ears are goin bad, so keep your ears open."

"You got it," he answered confidently. Medson cradled his Longshot like it was his child. He knew it meant the difference between life and death. He thought of his wife back at Jacinto. A few years back, the COG came to Franklin's outpost and taken his wife for breeding. They asked if anybody wanted to come along, but nobody liked them, the Stranded typically thought of them as Fascist Pigs.

They walked and walked through the woods and there was no sight of any Locust activity whatsoever. Chaps made his way to the road and spotted a crossroads. The group behind him followed closely. Chaps was careful not to reveal himself. He looked down the crossroad and saw nothing. He looked right, nothing again.

"Ok, we have to cross here. Jordan's group should be somewhere up there," and he pointed further down the road and a few houses and buildings were in sight, "my guess is there are no Locusts in town or we would be hearing gun shots. So, we'll go through town and find Jordan. Get ready to cross. Move one at a time, and move fast. I don't want nobody spotted."

Chaps got ready. Pulled his belongings tight. He darted across the road as fast as he could and climbed in some brush. He made it easily, "Ok, Medson, your next. Hurry son," and as soon as he was about to say go, Medson darted across twice as fast as Chaps, "Damn, Chaps your gettin old. I never seen you run so slow."

"Oh fuck off. If you weren't such a lousy shot, you woulda hid that damn cockroach when he was runnin away. He damn near strangled Crawford to death."

"I didn't even shoot at him ya old fuck." At that comment they both let out a laugh. They were always making jokes at each other. Chaps for being old, Medson for being a "lousy shot" even though he was quite accurate. Just then, Crawford jumped in the brush and almost landed on Chaps, "Watch it! Crazy asshole. Does it look like we're bein shot at?" The rest of the Stranded made it safely and they started their trek to Jordan's location. Chaps was taking grass and brush off his shirt and started walking towards the town up ahead. As they made their way towards town, it seemed as though all the buildings were intact. Oddly enough, as Chaps got closer, he realized there hadn't been a single crater or shell hole. It made Chaps feel a lot more comfortable and he walked casually into town. The town had seemed abandoned for there was no car or any signs of life and just when he started to really think, "Flash!"

"Thunder!" Medson yelled before Chaps could get his mouth ready. A dark man walked out of a building up ahead and to the right. "In here," he said more casually then Chaps expected.

"Yall ain't Franklin's group are ya?" he looked concerned. His face was dark and he was unshaven for at least a few weeks. His eyes were dark, cold, and gloomy. They had a faint look in them but it was reassuring to Chaps knowing this dark man was on his side, "Yes we are, Franklin didn't make it. Back at the outskirts of Tollen. There was nothin we could do. We lost a few good people." The dark man looked away slowly and had a faint look in his face. He then bit his bottom lip, "Yeah, Jordan aint make it either. We had 12 people, and now were down to only us three. Oh, and a sniper on the roof. He spotted yall. Ok, we gotta get to Mount Kadar. There is water and some food in this town. A store down the road has some canned food in it. We can get that and fill our canteens with water. There's a creek behind this store about 50 meters into the woods. This town is a Ghost Town so be ready for anything."

Chaps had to ask, "All of you here fired a gun?" The dark man nodded yes, "And you too?"

"Yeah, except for this broad right here, but its ok, she won't hold us back. What'd you say your name was?"

"Jeremy, Jeremy Baldwin." "Okay Jeremy, im Chaps, this heres Medson, Crawford, Alice, Wilcox, Adams, Smith, and… im sorry I don't recall your name. Who are you?" A very frightened voice answered, "Im Maria. Maria Santiago."

The dark man looked alive all of the sudden, "No shit? Franklin had a friend. What the fuck was his name. I dunno, but he was in the COG, Dom maybe." Maria all of the sudden looked alive as well and started crying, "He's my husband! We've been separated for a long time. Oh my god, when did you hear from him last? Is he still alive?" She was pounding Baldwin with question after question.

"Cool it down lady, that was six months ago at Franklins outpost. He came buy with a big guy, Marcus Fenix. Fascist motherfucker. Went strickly by the rules. Marcus that is. Yeah, they both helped us with Franklin's outpost but left after the first wave. Few days later, those alien fucks came back and we were forced to withdraw. We left every fuckin thing we had."

"He's still alive I know it. I just know it."

"Ok, but here's the plan, we're all gonna go and hide under Mount Kadar for a while. But heres whats up, aint nowhere safe anymore. Those goon motherfuckers have taken out every outpost in miles. We would go and hide inside of New Hope, but," Chaps hadn't heard of New Hope, "Uh, New Hope? What is New Hope?" Baldwin replied, "New Hope Facility. You never heard of that? Ah, well it's a research facility from what I know. I aint never been inside, but other Stranded have. I heard a while back that five motherfuckers went in there. Aint nobody heard from em since so we aint takin no chances." Chaps cut in, "ok, but what if they're hiding in there," Baldwin was steady, "what if they are? I don't exactly think they want the 12 of us as their company. Who knows how much food or water they have. Might not have that much," Medson cut in, "Maybe they have a decent amount," Baldwin was clearly annoyed wanting to get a move on, "We can't waste a chance, we needa get to Kadar as soon as we can." Medson cut in again, "True, but I think we should check it out, they welcome us I mean, we got 15 or 16 guns, right?"

"Look, Medson. Listen. We don't even know if they're fuckin dead or not. We don't have the luxury of taking that chance. Now at this stage, we shouldn't split up."

Chaps agreed, "Medson he's right, we don't know if they're dead or not. And if they are, we sure as shit would have wasted enough time searching that damned place. Not to mention we've wasted enough time talking about it. Come on we'll leave soon."

Just as the conversation ended, the sniper on the roof opened the hatch and yelled down, "Baldwin, contact, half mile down the road. Check it out, hurry." Baldwin ran over to the ladder and started up. Medson was immediately after him, followed by Chaps, "Everybody, sit tight and stay down here, I'll be right back," and he started climbing the old silver ladder like an old man would. Medson got to the top and the sniper looked surprised to see him, "J, who's this? Is this Franklin's group?" "Yeah, they just got here. Anyways what do you see?"

"Look through the Longshot," he said as he passed Baldwin the sniper, "yeah we got two boomers. Can't see for sure, but we got eight or nine grubs. Look like they're carrying something." As Baldwin looked through the scope he saw two boomers, "ah shit, your right two boomers, ten grubs. No way in hell we can engage em. The question is where the fuck do we hide. Fuck we got only a few minutes to decide too, Shit!" Medson looked through his scope as well, "Chaps, they are carryin sacks of some sort. Looks like there might be something inside em too. Fuck man, these fuckin things are doin all kinds of fuckin weird shit lately." Chaps thought of an idea, "We could go out the back, make a run for it outta town." Baldwin didn't like that idea, "nah, no to risky, what if they are meetin more of them motherfuckers outside. We'd be trapped…and fucked." Medson thought of a great idea, "Lets hide up here, its perfect we let em pass, and we don't make a fuckin sound. After we get everybody up here, we pull the ladder up and we all be quiet as hell." Everybody seemed to like the idea.

"That's good. That's all we can do actually. Okay, let's get everybody up here now and get the ladder up, we don't want em seein the ladder and comin inside." He walked to the hatch and said, "Everybody up, now. Hurry up Locust are down the road half a mile and they are walkin this way." People immediately started up the ladder. Crawford was last up and he and Baldwin lifted the ladder and it clanked on the side of the ceiling.

"Shit, Medson, did they hear anything?"

"No, they're still comin. Ok everybody get down," Everybody dropped to the ground and just breathed. Chaps was nervous shitless and everybody else was too. He knew he was not alone. Jeremy was calm but nervous and he didn't let anybody know it. They all sat breathing and heard the approaching footsteps. Chaps guessed they were only 50 meters. He listened to the fucked up hiss they make while talking. Everybody listened.


End file.
